Sunday, November 25, 2012

bernadette

Long before the internet age, there was this little skill and past-time called letter writing. Words were not a string of zeroes and ones, but were ink on paper, and arrived in envelopes with postmarks. Sometimes, it takes weeks to reach you, which is unthinkable of now. But the joy of it, when you see the letter in the mailbox (a real physical box of metal nailed to a wall)

I had a pen-pal from a neighbouring country. We exchanged letters and first day covers regularly. And then, like all good things, it came to an end. The letters became less and less, a trickle, and finally ceased. I guessed we each had our own needs and priorities to attend to. But it was a great experience while it lasted.

drawing by dsnake1

bernadette

but it was not to be

i could have taken
a train
to meet you.
we could even have
met halfway
at Kluang
have a coffee
shake hands

but we just write
our letters

and then
other things
came
and took over our
time

and the letters
became less

and
less

and then

it was not to be.

nov 2011
********

to bernadette, wherever you may be.

"And then one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun”

14 Comments:

Ah, I have had many pen pals in my lifetime too. Also did some exchanging of first-day-of-issues. There was always that joy of finding a letter in the mailbox from another country. Now with instant communication in emails (and blogs) there isn't that same 'high' anymore about communication, I don't think. Sad...but times change. Sorry you lost touch with your friend. I've had pen pals fade away like that too.

I'd like this much better without the opening "but". beginning a poem with a preposition is a dicey thing, best avoided, imho. I think the whole thing reads more smoothly without it, and makes a nice bookend, then, with your end line.

That aside, this is a nice snapshot of a connection that obviously meant something to you. Thanks for sharing it. There WAS something to be said for correspondence by post.

Thanks for your comments. i guess most of us have experienced the joy of corresponding with pen-pals at some points in our lives. you are right, times change, who can live without email now? nothing beats the personal touch of a letter from a pen pal though.

sadly, we lost touch, but that's how life works sometimes. :)

thecheesewolf,

Thanks for visiting! Pink Floyd is one of my favourite bands. :)

Brian,

It's always good to hear from you. my artwork is not too bad, right? :)

WabiSabi,

Thanks for the visit. i am glad you saw the intended form of the last few lines, as if how the letters become less and less. :)

Lolly,

Thank you. thinking back, there's a sense of regret in not nurturing the relationship, but yes, other things came to occupy the time.

Fireblossom

Thank you so much for your feedback. beginning a poem with a preposition is a dicey thing, i agree, but i wanted to open the poem with a feel of having something unfinished. i appreciate you taking the time to pen this comment. :)

now, most of the things that arrive through the post are bills, bank statements and brochures.

miskmask,

it's a funny old world, people bother to write words on paper, lick a stamp, walk to a post box, and trust that the letter will reach its destination. :)

thanks for the visit.

Audrey,

yes, and then you realised, wow, it has been such a long time. :)

Kim,

i think it's a wonderful experience too. I learned a lot of things about my pen-pals' countries through those correspondences. (before google came along) :")

This can be how it is even in the age of emails and facebook. I think the difference is that we are swamped rather than a trickle to a quiet.

It was a wonderful thing to receive something in an envelope -- the anticipation, reading the words written by the person's own hand. :) I didn't have a pen pal but used to write to my classmates from primary school, but the last was when I entered Poly.

i think in this age, we are swamped with information overload. how many emails sit in your in-box every day when you fire up the workstation? yes, in this age too, i think it still can be done, there should be people communicating this way. but it's always great to see handwritten lines, how the words flow and slant, the handwriting maybe telling something about the writer.